We reluctantly bid Coral Bay goodbye and set off for another day's long drive south. A brief stop in windy Carnarvon for lunch and then back on the road for another 300+km towards the Shark Bay World Heritage area. The uneventful ride was made more bearable by card games and thanks to Apple Music, the kids' introduction to some old school music like Elton John and Billy Joel - apparently Billy Joel's "Tell her about it" sends kids crazy!!
We arrived at Denham mid afternoon and were pleasantly surprised to find we'd scored "the best site in the park" according to the lady at Denham Seaside Tourist Park - and it lived up to the promise! We were waterfront, side on to the view - a rare position in terms of caravan park layouts! We checked out the beach (slippery mud flats along the edge which nearly got the better of Jen!) and enjoyed another dinner outside at sunset.
On Monday we dragged the kids out of bed bright and early to head to Monkey Mia for the much anticipated dolphin feeding. The caravan park staff had recommended leaving at 7 to arrive in plenty of time for the 7.45am Ranger briefing, which we did...along with a few hundred other people! We all patiently waited on the boardwalk until invited on to the sand or the jetty by the Rangers - and then we waited...and waited. Luckily the Ranger had plenty of interesting knowledge about the dolphins to keep us all entertained as we hung around for about 20 minutes waiting for sight of a dolphin. Finally we saw one coming in and she cruised up and down the line of gawking tourists (most looking through their phones rather than actually looking...) and just as she was about to be fed, another dolphin came racing across the Bay. The 2 dolphins got fed two pieces of fish each by people selected from the crowd and then the show was declared over and we were all asked to leave the beach. Apparently each "experience" can only last a maximum of 25 minutes so that dolphins who have calves can head back out to deeper water to nurse them (they can't do it in the shallows, and many calves died in the past due to their mothers neglecting them and staying in shore waiting for more food). The crowd quickly dispersed but we decided to hang around to see if any of the others would appear for the second or third feeding. We didn't have to wait long - the 2 dolphins who were fed earlier returned, and one brought her calf. Instead of wanting more hand feeding, we were treated to a display of them doing their own foraging and fishing - and it was a lot more interesting (and there were hardly any people crowding the beach so it made it easy to get very close). Dolphin watching appetites satisfied, our tummies were rumbling so we headed back to Denham for some brekky ourselves!
In the afternoon we headed out to the Ocean Park Aquarium, a few kilometres out of town. Tours, led by entertaining, very knowledge marine scientists, run constantly throughout the day so it's just a matter of turning up and joining in wherever they're up to. We all thoroughly enjoyed the tour that lasted about 1 hour. We visited open top tanks filled with Sea Snakes, Moray Eels, Squid, a Green Turtle and Lion Fish and learned some really interesting stuff! In the closed top tanks we saw Clown Fish cohabitating with Anemone and witnessed Stone Fish (possibly the ugliest sea creature on the planet!) catching their prey. We got up close with Shovel Nosed Rays and Nervous Sharks in the shallow outdoor "lagoon" tank and then headed to the large outdoor pool to see Lemon Sharks, Golden Trevally and Cod (that were actually the most violent when it came to snatching fish off the line!).Read more

Well, we had an earlier than anticipated start this morning (5.15am) as we were woken by the rustling sound of our lastest guest (3rd and counting) opening a packet of biscuits! Unfortunately this was one of the few items that we hadn't got space for in the mouse proof cupboard/ microwave so had it stored up on the shelf above the cab where we had thought it was well out of their reach. A quick eye to eye contact, followed by a chase and the mouse was ejected from the van via the door only to rush around to the back of the van and back in again! We gave up hope of trying to catch him but could hear him running around underneath us in the cupboards. He seemed to enjoy the food we left on the trap without setting both of them off and ignored the tasty poison treats left for him too. At least the sunrise was worth it.
Made our way to the remote part of the peninsula called Monkey Mia and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere on the beach and in the pool. Saw green turtles swimming around the pier, emus wondering around the campsite and a few dolphins that visited the bay this afternoon, one that swam right on the edge of the shore.Read more

For years now they have been feeding dolphins here and have learnt alot about their behaviour as they study them so this morning we went to the feeding where they are very controlled about how it is done. Only 5 regular dolphins get feed if they choose to visit and they will only get 10% of their daily intake so they have to feed naturally too. Others come in to socialise and look at people too. Today there were about 10 in total. Louisa was chosen to feed a fish to one of them, called Surprise and is 38 years old. We were a little unsure whether we should go but were pleasantly surprised at how well it is carried out. We spent time on the beach this morning and as we were heading off for lunch a baby shark swam past us along the shore where we had been recently swimming! We walked along the trail adjacent to the campsite that takes you along the beach then into the scrub where we could see plenty of prints in the sand as well as a baby woma python skin. At least we had earned a swim in the pool and a soak in the hot spa after that.Read more